News

Touro Law to Open Pro Bono Storm Help Center - “TLC- HEART”

Touro Law Center will open a center next week to provide referrals, assistance and legal advice for local residents and small businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy. A press conference will be held on Friday, November 2 at 10:00 am at Touro Law Center to announce more detailed plans and efforts to help Long Island residents. The press conference will include members of Touro Law community, including; Dean Patricia Salkin; Professor Tracy McGaugh, a disaster relief law expert; Thomas Maligno, director of public service at Touro Law; law students, including those who have volunteered in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; and alumni, who are committed to this cause. Also in attendance will be leaders of the New York State Bar and the Suffolk County Bar Associations.

The center, called TLC-HEART (Touro Law Center - Hurricane Emergency Assistance and Referral Team), will be staffed by volunteer lawyers and law students. It will include a telephone hotline (hours to be determined) that will match resident concerns with referrals to federal, state and local government agencies and private groups offering storm-related assistance.

The Center will also offer:- assistance in assessing eligibility and completing application forms for the wide range of emergency assistance available to storm victims, both individuals and small businesses (e.g., food stamps, government loans and grants); - free legal consultation and advice on storm-related legal issues (e.g., insurance, landlord-tenant, consumer complaints, unemployment);- assistance to members of the Touro Law community who are in need.

Beginning next week, residents will be able to call the center at (631) 761-7198 and email tlcheart@tourolaw.edu.

Touro Law is coordinating with the New York State Bar Association and local bar associations, and with Nassau and Suffolk County officials. Touro Law Center’s Public Advocacy Center (PAC), Student Disaster Relief Network and Student Bar Association are also joining in the effort. The PAC houses a dozen not-for-profit public interest law groups that already provide assistance on senior citizen, employment, disability, family law, domestic violence and similar issues.

Dean Salkin commented that, “At this time of devastating loss for the residents of the Tri-State area, Touro Law Center faculty, staff, students and alumni are mobilizing to provide assistance as needed in the coming weeks and months.” Dean Salkin continued, “We know that based on the experiences from other natural disasters in the State and across the country, the immediate pro bono assistance of trained lawyers and supervised law students is in immediate demand and will be a necessary component of rebuilding for many months to come.”

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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 750 and an alumni base of more than 5,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

About the Touro College and University System: Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 19,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris, and Florida. Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles and Touro University Worldwide as separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media.